Around 21,000 former students with student loan debts are living at unknown addresses abroad. The student finance body DUO is unable to contact them and is missing out on €170 million. The government wants to make it easier for DUO to track down such individuals. A draft bill (in Dutch) on this matter has been published online for public consultation.
As costs continue to rise as the outstanding debt increases, the government believes it is in the interests of both the debtor and the state that debtors remain contactable at all times. It therefore wishes to oblige students and former students to be contactable by email, telephone and post. Within the Netherlands, this happens almost automatically, thanks to residents being registered with their local council. But abroad, the situation is different.
The government also wishes to extend the limitation period for such claims from five to ten years. Furthermore, according to the bill, DUO must be able to exchange data with other countries. The government believes this is less drastic than the only means currently available to DUO: the so-called passport alert. Under this system, a debtor’s Dutch travel document is refused or invalidated if they have a significant student loan debt and no repayment is made. (HOP, BB)
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